The United Nations Children’s Fund, Unicef, has warned that the Central African Republic, whichhas been torn apart by violence since a coup last year, is heading for a humanitariandisaster. The UN says severely overcrowded camps and poor water and sanitation are a deadlycombination for children. Paul Wood is at a refugee camp at Bangui international airport.
The stark evidence of the Central African Republic’s deepening crisis greets you as soon asyou land. As many as 100,000 people are camped out by the airport; rows of plastic sheetsand makeshift shelters pressed right up against the runway. A month ago, only a few thousandpeople were here, but then violence in the capital Bangui escalated. Almost half the city hasnow fled. The airport camp is entirely made up of Christians. People told us that the mainlyMuslim Seleka militia had gone house to house killing young men. But the Christians have donetheir share of killing too and aid workers worry that Christian groups are gearing up forrevenge attacks.
Thousands of people are fleeing from the rebel-held town of Bentiu in South Sudan ahead ofan expected assault by government forces. From Bentiu, Alastair Leithead.
Along every road, people are on the move. Shops have been shut and boarded up, and entirefamilies are walking south with whatever possessions they can carry as government troops areapproaching Bentiu. Much of the fighting has been well away from the rebel-held city, but thefrontline suddenly appears to be collapsing into the town. Troops, heavy weapons and at leastone tank were seen withdrawing and there were reports that government troops were within25km of Bentiu compared to 40 at the start of the day.
A young girl, who police in Afghanistan say was detained trying to carry out a suicide attack,has appealed to President Hamid Karzai to find her a new home. The girl, who according toofficials is ten years old, says it was her brother who tried to use her as a suicide bomber and ifshe were to be sent home, the same would happen again.
An inquest in London has concluded that the fatal police shooting of a man, which sparkedriots across England, was lawful. The jury reached its conclusion by a majority decision.Mark Duggan was shot in 2011 by police officers who said he was armed and dangerous. Butoutside the court, the Duggan family solicitor, Marcia Willis Stewart, criticised the verdict.
“The jurors found that he had no gun in his hand and yet he was gunned down. For us that’san unlawful killing. As you can see the family are in a state of shock and we would ask that yourespect, respect their shock.”
A police spokesman attempted to read a statement outside the court, but his words weredrowned out by angry protesters.
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Prosecutors in Germany have charged an 88-year-old man over an infamous Nazi massacre inFrance during the Second World War. The man is accused of taking part in the murder of 25people in a barn in the village of Oradour-sur-Glane as well as complicity in the killing of severalhundred people including women and children in the village church. The man’s lawyer said hewas in the village at the time, but had nothing to do with the killings.
Police and protesters have clashed in Tunisia for a second day in the country’s poorest region.Eyewitnesses said protesters angry at a new tax on vehicles tried to storm the offices of thegoverning Islamist party in the town of Kasserine. Police used teargas to drive them back.
The White House says President Obama has invited the German Chancellor Angela Merkel toWashington, offering the chance to mend relations following revelations that US intelligencehad been monitoring her mobile phone. In a telephone conversation, Mr Obama also wishedthe chancellor a swift recovery after she fractured her pelvis skiing in Switzerland before theNew Year.
Plans by the British government to make it illegal to be annoying in public have been defeatedin the upper house of Parliament-- the House of Lords. Government ministers said the changewas designed to help people tackle nuisance neighbours, but members of the House of Lordswho voted against it argued that it could be used to stifle legitimate protest. Here’s JamesLandale.
The aim is to give the police and local authorities an alternative to anti-social behaviour ordersthat will be easier to impose. But many peers said the new injunction would underminefreedom of speech and association. They said the definition of annoying or nuisancebehaviour was too wide and the burden of proof too low. They said as a result, the new powerscould be used against buskers, nudists, noisy children, street preachers, trick-or-treaters, evenchurch bell ringers. James Landale reporting
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